The Cuomo administration has announced more than $5 million in state grants for five Adirondack communities to help their upgrade water and sewer systems. Grants for drinking water are $1 million for Chesterfield’s $8.4 million project and $1.3 million for North Elba’s $2.2 million project, according to the governor’s office. Grants for sewer systems include almost $1.3 million for Crown Point’s nearly $5.1 million project, $1.2 million for Saranac Lake’s $4.8 million project and $450,000 for Speculator’s $1.8 million project. The announced awards across northern New York also included $4.35 million for Plattsburgh’s $17.4 million wastewater treatment plant upgrades. It >>More

A new ruling is expected by year’s end in the eight-year-old lawsuit that pits landowners against outside paddlers over rights to a two-mile waterway in the remote northwestern Adirondacks. State Supreme Court Justice Richard Aulisi, after hearing three weeks of trial testimony this summer, is tasked with deciding whether Mud Pond, its outlet and parts of Shingle Shanty Brook and Lilypad Pond are “navigable in fact” where they pass through private land and therefore open to any canoeist or kayaker. The land is owned and controlled by the Friends of Thayer Lake LLC and affiliated Brandreth Park Association, whose members >>More

The Olympic Regional Development Authority hopes to begin construction this year on what winter-sports enthusiasts hope will be a “magical” transformation of the historic Van Hoevenberg cross-country-skiing center into an international venue on par with any in the world. The plans are conditional on permitting and would be carried out over the next several years as funding becomes available. ORDA says it has near-term funding in hand, to get the project underway once the approval process is complete. Although it has seen incremental improvements over the years, the center has grown a bit long in the tooth since its glory >>More

New York environmental authorities and stakeholders have issued detailed plans for preventing harmful algae blooms on Lake Champlain and Lake George, which are among a dozen priority waterways statewide. The Cuomo administration has promised $65 million for the effort to rid New York lakes of the blooms, also called blue-green algae, that consist generally of visible surface patches of cyanobacteria. They have been a particular problem in the Finger Lakes. Naturally present in low numbers in most freshwater systems, their rapid growth is fueled by warm temperatures and high levels of organic nutrients, which include fertilizer and sewage. Some cyanobacteria >>More

Adirondack Wild and the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice are urging the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) in a letter to use its authority to force the removal of the stored tanker cars in an area of the Park designated as wild and scenic river areas. The two groups have written a letter to the APA asserting the agency has the legal authority to do so because the storage violates the state’s Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System Act, according to a press release issued January 4. We found this informational flyer from the APA explaining the act, including designated rivers in >>More

Snapping turtles are hatching right now at the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge. Call it what you like–a fluke, a surprise–but Wendy Hall who runs the refuge with her husband calls it a clear sign of climate change. A nest of eggs found in Tupper Lake was brought to the refuge earlier this week, where Hall had them under a heat lamp. By Tuesday, two or three of them had hatched. Changes in the weather cause wildlife to readjust and warmer temperatures can throw off natural schedules. It affects animals that use snow for good tracking and hunting or those that hibernate. >>More

As the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy was looking to improve its Boquet River Nature Preserve in the Town of Willsboro, they considered the needs and aspirations of the small community where the preserve is located—right in the middle of town. For one, a school in town was converted to an assisted living facility just a few steps away from the preserve. And the town’s comprehensive plan was focused on merging nature and recreation into its quality of life and tourism economy. So the Conservancy brought in professional trail builders — Tahawus Trails, LLC — who recommended a 1.5 >>More

The Adirondack Explorer has a new app, optimized for phone and tablet screens, that has everything you love about our bimonthly magazine focusing on the issues important to the Adirondacks. And now the stories can include videos, additional photos, audio, and links to other stories to help readers gain a better understanding of what’s going on in the Park.

Thinking of taking up trail running? The most important piece of equipment is, of course, your shoes. Drew Haas, an avid trail runner and manager at the Mountaineer in Keene Valley, went over some options with us for the July/August issue of the Adirondack Explorer — with this caveat: “What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the next.” In general, trail-running shoes are more durable and more protective than street-running shoes. Trail shoes should have a protective plate in the forefoot so you don’t feel every rock you land on.